PT Pertamina Hulu Mahakam Timur (PHKT), an upstream subsidiary of state energy holding company Pertamina, has pledged to maintain the production of its newly obtained East Kalimantan-Attaka oil and gas onstream block, which is believed to be in a”declining phase”.

The cumulative production of the block, which was previously operated by Chevron, is estimated at 1 billion barrel of oil and 3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.

“We planned to have 10 workovers [to increase wells production] and 59 well services until year-end to achieve daily production of 73.3 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas and 13,291 barrel oil per day (bopd),” Pertamina said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter of 2019, Pertamina plans to drill three wells, carry out 37 workovers and conduct 308 well services to achieve daily average production of 59.4 mmcfd of gas and 10,639 bopd, the statement says.

PHKT says it has allocated US$79.3 million to fund exploration activities for three years.
The block has 15 fields. As of September, the block’s oil and condensate production stood at 13,220 bopd and 69.44 million mmcfd for gas.

On Thursday, PHKT kicked off its maiden operation in the block after the government awarded it a 20-year contract until October 2038.

Amien Sunaryadi, head of the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas), also expressed the hope that Pertamina could maintain or even increase the block’s production rate. (bbn)